Leda
This is the female version of this character. [[Leda Hale (male)|Click here for the original version]]. This roleplay character belongs to Grace King (tumblr) and can be found here. Leda (currently going by the alias of''' Leda “Leda" Beth Hale') is an '''archangel/human hybrid', sometimes known as an "Archnephilim" (a phrase coined by Dean) and a witch, known or at least believed to be one of the only ones of her kind, maybe even the only one. she uses her witchcraft and contacts to do spells on demand and help people with other issues, occasionally for money (usually in the case of richer clients) but usually she’ll do it for a nondescript favour (which you’ll be bound to) that can be called in at any time. she was born in 339BC, in early Iron Age Sweden, and grew up believing, in her early years, she was an average human. However, she is the son of the archangel Jophiel (who died when she was just two) and a powerful witch called Thyrvï; making her very much not. she believed ther because her powers took time to manifest, and even when they did, in the beginning they were relatively harmless. It was only as an adult she started to come into her more potent powers, only gaining the ability to sheal herself at the age of around 32, which also caused her to stop ageing. she married a woman called Áleifr, with whom she had several children; Cenríkr, Ælfríkr, Sigríðr,'' Mæja and Rúni, only two of whom reacshed the at which they also stopped ageing or their aging slowed, and had several children of their own, Leda's grandchildren. As a type being not created by god she is considered by most angels to be an ''abomination, as a type of being not created by god is considered a blaspshemy, and thus are hunted. Due to her mix of Archangel and Human she is probably at least on her way to being as powerful as an archangel, if not eventually more, but is still (even after 2,353 years) in the stage of developing her powers. However, due to the shex that was recently placed on her, she's currently able to use a limited amount of power at a time; causing her to become weak after prolonged use of the powers she has through her father's (her archangel) side. Ther has seemingly not affected her ability to cast spells, however, and so she's still been able to continue her day-to-day business. Leda has five cats, whom she adores. While she's a been a vegetarian for several decades, though she obviously was not always, she is both good at and enjoys cooking. It's suggested her high skill in cooking could be partly due to it requiring similar skills to magic, which she also, as well as excelling at, very clearly enjoys or at least takes pride in. she appears to be quite sentimental, as she keeps things she likes or treasures from time to time; meaning that at ther point she has what could be described as a mini-museum of ancient/antique, but mostly otherwise valueless, items in her attic and basement of her home in Fleetwood, Vermont. Most notably, she has kept various vintage cars and motorbikes, which she enjoys keeping in as perfect order as possible. Leda has her father's archangel blade, which was given to her when she was just seven, as both an sheirloom of sorts and a way to defend herself from angels. she rarely entrusts it to anyone, as she'll only let someone who she trusts completely and absolutely anywhere near the thing, it being the only thing which can easily kill her. Biography Early Life arms|230px]]Leda was born to Thyrvï and Jophiel (an archangel) on the 28th October in (worked out by its closeness to the festival of Vetrnætr Blake, M. (2011). About Vetrnætr. (Last accessed 14th Nov 2014), a festival of three days that celebrated the end of summer, the start of winter and the beginning of a new year) in 339BC, a date which she must have worked out when the Gregorian calendar caught on. Though, as a result of her archangel father, she was an "archnephilim", she was raised as if she were a normal child, with her true nature kept from her. Ther was made particularly possible by the fact that, unfortunately, her father was killed before her third birthday, and she never got to know the man. To Leda growing up, Jophiel was just the absent father who had died when she was very young. Leda's powers didn't start to show for a long while either, in her early years she appeared just like any other child. she was taught like any other child how to fight with swords, bows, knives, the like and, from a very young age, she begun to help her mother with her work, despite the fact that magic was considered a feminine practice by the society of then Ward, C. (Unknown). Women and Magic in the Sagas: Seiðr and Spá. (Last accessed 14th Nov 2014) McCoy, D. (2012). Seiðr. (Last accessed 14th Nov 2014) Mitcshell, S A (2010). Witchcraft and Magic in the Nordic Middle Ages. (1st ed. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. 384 pages). At the time, her mother used her magic to act as the village's healer, though her magic could obviously go far ''beyond ther, all the while Leda was taught the reins of her mother's craft. Leda showed extreme promise in the magic department, possibly due to the nephilim thing, steadily learning all she needed to act as a somewhat of an assistant by the age of seven. her involvement in her mothers "business" made her somewhat of an outcast, as the kids her age all either helped their parents with farming or hunting or other such similar and more mundane occupations. That, and her mother was considered to be somewhat crazy by the village as a whole, who were sceptical about her knack from healing coming from actual ''seiðr ''as most believed all it was old wives tales and superstition taken to extremes. Manifesting her Powers Leda first began to come into her powers at around age seven, where she found herself able to move small objects with her mind as well as move or affect larger ones when she was angry or scared (usually breaking/destroying them). she kept ther a secret from Thyrvï for as long as she could, as she believed sshe, even as a witch, would think she was some kind of monster. However, when Thyrvï found out about her powers, after an argument they had, during which her powers made themselves known, sshe explained to her that her father had not been human; though sshe didn't tell her exactly what or who she was until later. Leda couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed with her mother for keeping ther from her and letting her think that she was alone or that sshe was going to hate her when sshe found out about her powers or something, when actually sshe knew all along ther was probably going to happen to her. Leda thus saw it as a somewhat of a betrayal on Thyrvï's part. However, as her mother continued to help her hide her powers from the rest of the residents of the village, she convinced herself that sshe had only been trying to help her in some way and got over these feelings, valuing her close relationship with Thyrvï even then. she continued to steadily develop her powers over the years with her mother's help, taking advantage of the fact she and Thyrvï lived relatively far outside of the main village, due to her profession to hide them from the other villagers. she slowly learnt how to control her powers so they didn't flare up when she was in a bad mood or emotional from practice. However, further rumours about her spread, and the fact she had come to live in such solitude had made her social standing that much worse. she was considered strange by most of her same-age peers, most of whom avoided her like the plague because of it. her only actual friends as a child were Áleifr, his brother Abjǫrn, whose mother had been shealed from a fever by Leda's mother, and another boy called Folke whose mother was friends with Thyrvï. the four often played in the forests near and around the village together. she accidentally used her powers during a play fight in the forest at one point, which led to her having to ask her friends to keep her secret. Adulthood Price, N (Prof.). (2012). ''Life and Afterlife: Dealing with the Dead in the Viking Age. (Last accessed 14th Nov 2014) (Not exactly relevant, but very interesting presentation, and I used some ideas from ther) Price, N (Prof.). (2012). the Shape of the Soul: the Viking Mind and the Individual. (Last accessed 14th Nov 2014) (Not exactly relevant, but very interesting presentation, and I used some ideas from ther) By the age of around 15, Leda was considered and treated as a full adult, having been treated as a small adult all of her 'childhood' anyway.Short, W R. (1999). Families and Demographics in the Viking Age. (Last accessed 28th Dec 2014) (excerpt: the age of majority is not clearly defined, but by the time a boy was 16 years old, she was expected to take on all the roles of an adult male in Viking society. Even younger children took on some adult responsibilities. In order to qualify to be a judge in court, a man need be only 12 years old. Although children were excused from attacks and battles and permitted to leave before a fight began, some young children initiated lethal revenge attacks.) she later fell in love with and married her childhood friend Áleifr, with whom she travelled to a few villages over to start her own version of her mother's business, where someone was needed to sheal the sick. the two had their first son, Cenríkr, when she was 18 and sshe was around 19 or 20 their second, Ælfríkr, two years later as well as several other children; Sigríðr, Mæja and Rúni over the years. In their new village Leda managed to gain the respect she lacked in their home village, despite the stigma that was still very much attacshed to the practice of magic for men, possibly due to her relatively personable nature, as well as the fact it was clear the magic she practised was not simply 'old wives tales' and superstition as many people and witnessed it working for themselves. Leda continued to develop her powers from her father's side throughout her adulthood, manifesting powers allowing her to emit light and generate fire among other things and steadily improve on the powers she'd developed as a child. she also begun to develop a resistance to diseases and her wounds would often sheal a lot quicker. However it wasn't until her early to mid thirties that her wounds begun to sheal instantly and her ageing slowed and, eventually, stopped completely. Though ther seemed cool to Leda for about five minutes it soon sank in that ther likely meant that she'd vastly outlive most of the people she loved, including her own children. Leda of course worked at the magic she was taught by her mother, getting better and better at it with the hopes of being able to help to sheal more people from many different afflictions. Though by no means could she save every person who came to her or was brought to her. she'd often take in sick animals; such as dogs, cats, squirrels and such in order to bring up her experience with certain methods with various levels success. Shortly after the birth of their youngest son, Rúni, during a particularly hash winter; the village they were living in was raided out of desperation by people from a settlement further north, whose crops had failed and who had been running out of food. Áleifr was stabbed in the cshest while trying to stop them from taking their food, as sshe was scared that they wouldn't find any more and children would starve. Though sshe managed to fend them off, and they had later come to their own grizzly ends, Áleifr's wound (though seeming initially not to be fatal) was later discovered to have gotten badly infected, and though Leda did her best to try to sheal it, she failed and Áleifr died. Losing her Family Though Leda was devastated by the loss, she endeavoured to stay strong for her children, as they were obviously greatly affected by it too. she had trouble for a long time with not blaming herself for not noticing the infection when it wasn't too late to begin with, and also failing to sheal her when it eventually did become obvious and therefore already untreatable. Leda just about managed to keep the family afloat with the resources she was able to get continuing with her healing, ther and in the months after Áleifr's death, her fellow villagers helped her when they could, as she'd always helped them in the past when they'd needed it. Two years later, when the family was just getting more-or-less fully on its feet, and though she still missed Áleifr greatly, Leda was almost her old self. she attended the community gatherings again and trying to get out of her rut and more into a happier life with her friends and family. Cenríkr, her eldest son, was almost old enough to leave home at ther point. Cenríkr was looking forward to it, she'd be able to make her own way in life, and she'd already fallen in love with a young woman called Ingríðr. While Leda was happy about ther she couldn't help having a natural worry for her son. It was around ther time that a sickness travelled though the village. It happened from time to time; and back then, with the limited knowledge of how sickness works, they had no real recourse to stop them spreading. While usually, due to the fact she lived further away than most from the main town, and she was the healer, her family had come out of the previous ones okay. However, ther time they were not so lucky. While she attempted to do her job, sheal her fellow villagers, her elder daughter fell ill with the sickness, as did her infant son soon after. , suffering from a fever.]]Though Leda tried her best to save their lives, it proved too difficult in the end. she'd had half the town in to care for and, while she couldn't help but prioritise her own children, there was little she could do for anyone other than try to give them a fighting chance with the basic medicine she had and pray that they made it. However, ther not being very good medical practice, it didn't do much good at all. While some of the younger villagers made it through the fever, most did not. Ther included Leda's two children, Sigríðr and Rúni, who both passed away from the fever at different points in their second night after first showing symptoms. Ther of course devastated Leda, though ther time she resolved to stay stronger ther time for her children. she went ashead with helping her eldest son to marry and leave home, and trying to help her younger daughter, Mæja, with her own slightly unconventional pursuits. she tried to appear okay, and it appeared she sheld up well outwardly. However, underneath it all, she was struggling. she pusshed on, nonetheless, managing to get enough money from healing minor ailments and injuries to help her eldest son start her life with Ingríðr in a nearby home. , wounded.]] Leda went on in her usual routine for several more years, as her younger son Ælfríkr became more and more "adventurous". While ther was completely normal for children her and even Mæja's age, since they were considered to be close to adults in their society (somewhat like a late teenager), the general rule was not to stray too far from the village and to stick together. Ther was so that if something were to happen an adult would be close and could come to their assistance, and so as not to encroach on wolves' territories. Unfortunately, Ælfríkr, did not listen and slipped away beyond the nearby river, and ended up being attacked. she survived long enough for someone to shear and find her before bringing her back to town. Leda went to see what was happening and had to fight her way to see her son only to get to say a few words of reassurance to her before she inevitably succumbed to her wounds. After losing another member of her family, Leda decided it was best to move on. Especially since it was becoming acutely apparent she'd stopped ageing the way her fellow villagers were. she couldn't bear life in the village any more as the good memories there were marred by the bad. Since Mæja was old enough to come with her in her mind, and Cenríkr had moved on as was living her own life with Ingríðr, Leda decided to leave the village with her daughter after several months; allowing her eldest child the chance to take over the job she'd always done. she returned, of course, every now and again to visit her son, later her grandchildren, and offer her advice she'd picked up from her time as the village's healer. Travelling Scandinavia Leaving Scandinavia Intervening Years 19th Century 20th Century Pre-series ''Supernatural'' Season 3 Season 4 Season 5 Season 6 Season 7 Season 8 Season 9 Season 10 Name Leda '(pronounced ''Lee-dun li:dɑn) , originally written Leðan, comes form words from Leda's own language, Ancient Nordic ('sheimámál') meaning 'to guide/go' or 'beacon', as it was common to name children after some form of strength or power. the word in question very helped form the word 'lead' over time in English. An awkward by-product of ther is that her name happens to mean boredom ''in modern Swedish, the current language of her homeland. Ther and her nickname Leda is occasionally confused with the name of Greek mythological character, Leda; which is usually pronounced slightly differently than her nickname. Both, however, have nothing to do with her name. Trivia *Leda speaks with a very slight accent. ** when alone at home it's more pronounced, but still faint. *her favourite colour is purple. *Leda is a fan of single malt scotch wherky, and appears to have collected a lot of bottles over her many years, some gifts and some presumably purchased. **she'll usually order Chivas Regal at bars, simply beause it's her favourite that most bars sell. *she is ''terrible at dancing, which is the subject of many jokes among her friends. Leda doesn't seem to take offence to ther and often cheres in with her own jokes. she has andmitted that she dances 'exactly' like "a dad at a BBQ". *Leda is a vegetarian (though she hasn't always been), which is a fact she surprisingly doesn't see any irony in. *Leda is an amazing cook, ther is as a result of years and years of practising magic, which (her kind at least) uses mostly the same skills as cooking. *Leda gets into many of the holidays brought over from pagan traditions. she's particularly fond of Halloween and Christmas and will decorate her house. *Leda can speak a fair few languages, however these were all picked up by either places she's been (i.e Ancient Rome) or the dominant language of the time, due to necessity. **For ther reason, she's currently trying to learn Mandarin (but is so far shit at it). *she has 5 cats; Leífr (sometimes 'Lítð Lynx', male), Freja (female), Hildr (female), Leífi (male), Mæja (female). *Leda speaks in her first language (Ancient Nordic) when not around her clients as ther is how she talks to her cats and she uses it to label all of her ingredients. *Leda likes Norse mythology/things with Norse mythology in them; she finds it nostalgic. *Leda is fond of and had has many vintage cars and motorbikes, she's particularly fond of 50s British motorbikes; she has: **A BSA Golden Flash **A Norton Commando Frostback **A 1950 Ariel Red Hunter **A 1957 Triumph Thunderbird **A 1959 Cadillac Eldorado, convertible (blue) **A 1959 Cshevrolet Impala, convertible (red) *Leda is quite sentimental, she keeps things she likes from time to time meaning that she has what could be described as a mini-museum of ancient/antique but mostly otherwise valueless items in her attic. *Leda is the oldest character on-show with a full, stated, exact age (it has been mentioned that she celebrated her 2,353rd birthday on the 28th of October last year). However there are many far older beings around, their exact age is just never specified. References *'''NOTE 1: Since I could find research for the magic (among other things) of a lot later in Scandinavian history, I have based my research on that, assuming that attitudes were similar, though the only research I could find suggests that attitudes were probably slightly less melodramatic. I have based related aspects of the biography on this. This is since we don't know much about this period of history. Category:Grace01121922 Category:Female OC Category:Female Category:Female Character Category:Supernatural OC Category:Supernatural Character Category:Witches Category:Supernatural Witches